The quantum vacuum — though being the ground state of our world — carries a substantial amount of properties which are consequences of the ubiquitous quantum fluctuations. These properties can be probed, for instance, by strong electromagnetic fields or other external probes; for instance, boundaries give rise to the famous Casimir effect.

We investigate quantum vacuum phenomena which are or can become experimentally accessible in current or future experiments. In particular strong fields as they become available, for instance, at modern laser facilities are a promising tool to search for quantum vacuum phenomena. Our studies focus on understanding and predicting characteristic signatures of the nonlinear and nonlocal properties of the quantum vacuum. Moreover, we explore the potential of quantum vacuum experiments to search for "New Physics", i.e., so far unobserved hypothetical particles and interactions.